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So I installed Arch Linux... Is this it?

I’m a little bit underwhelmed, I thought that based off the fact so many people seem to make using this distro their personality I expected… well, more I guess?

Once the basic stuff is set-up, like wifi, a few basic packages, a desktop environment/window manager, and a bit of desktop environment and terminal customisation, then that’s it. Nothing special, just a Linux distribution with less default programs and occasionally having to look up how to install a hardware driver or something if you need to use bluetooth for the first time or something like that.

Am I missing something? How can I make using Arch Linux my personality when once it’s set up it’s just like any other computer?

What exactly is it that people obsess over? The desktop environment and terminal customisation? Setting up NetworkManager with nmcli? Using Vim to edit a .conf file?

rickyrigatoni ,

How can I make using Arch Linux my personality when once it’s set up it’s just like any other computer?

Well, do you already have a personality that isn’t based on Arch? If you do, get rid of it.

hector ,

I really like Arch because it’s bare metal but not too much => it’s very easy to choose the components you need for your installation and exactly fine-tune your experience without spending too much time with something like Nix/LFS/Slackware.

  • it’s community supported, lightweight, fast, and easy to use when you know what you’re doing (wow this sentence is dumb but you get me right?)
laughterlaughter ,

I like operating systems as boring as possible. Let it manage the underlying system while I focus on work. I think you just convinced me to try Arch now.

pineapplelover ,

Arch constantly breaks on me. Maybe give it a while.

Andromxda ,
@Andromxda@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

Skill issue

hand ,
@hand@lemmy.studio avatar

It’s bleeding-edge, so bugs and regressions are going to be there first.

Case in point: there is a bug/issue with the Nvidia drivers now (555) that messes up hibernation/suspend and cause a kernel panic for some.

ssm ,
@ssm@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

Arch is for the most part comparable to Debian unstable/sid, but instead of a normal repository, it instead depends largely on a massive 3rd party repository (the AUR), and for some reason people think that’s a feature.

Blaiz0r ,

In my experience the AUR is useful but almost unnecessary, and if you want to use flatpak you can get away from using the AUR entirely

avidamoeba ,
@avidamoeba@lemmy.ca avatar

Oof, hit them where it hurts 🤕

Lettuceeatlettuce ,
@Lettuceeatlettuce@lemmy.ml avatar

You fell for the meme lol.

Arch is great if you want very high levels of customization without having to get into compiling and coding, like with Gentoo or NixOS.

I think of it as the distro equivalent to custom keyboard kit, you get all the parts and can swap them out as much as you want. But you’re not designing and fabricating your own circuit board and microcontroller, writing your own custom firmware, getting a custom case modeled and fabricated, etc.

There’s a reason “I use Arch, BTW” Is a meme.

probableprotogen ,

Tbh I only use arch because I still love openbox too much

Ghoelian ,

Can’t you just install openbox on any other distro? Looks like it’s available for all the major ones at least.

matcha_addict ,

The thrilling thing about arch is you get to put together your own user land applications, especially things that could form your desktop environment, audio stuff, etc.

I agree it is not that complicated. If you want more thrill, here is what I recommend:

gentoo Linux

has the option to compile everything from source. This isn’t just for bragging rights. This resolves a whole class of software breakages that can happen on other distros (especially when using old or less common applications).

  • It gives you the option (emphasis on optional) to use openRC, an alternative to systemd.
  • patch any software super easily, working nicely with the system
  • customize compile flags on a global level
  • have package manager manage software that isn’t available in repos, or easily write a package script for it (technically AUR can do this, but gentoo more powerful)
  • works like a charm with heavily customized setups, such as musl, or less common architectures like arm or risc-V

NixOS

Takes it a step beyond gentoo and uses a functional, lazy approach in package management. Every package is fully reproducible, has a kind of isolated environment. Your entire setup is reproducible and declared with a single file.

---- below this line is torture. Not recommended

slackware

Idk how it works exactly, but package management looks like a manual pain

Linux from scratch

A book where you create your Linux installation from scratch, compiling every single component until you reach a working system

Notable mentions

  • Alpine Linux: uses musl and busybox by default. Extremely lightweight. Some things will not work, but you get the thrill of running a couple MB distro
  • void Linux: ok I’m tired of writing so I will not explain that one
TriflingToad ,

nix sounds cool but it also sounds like a PAIN to use until it gets proper support

matcha_addict ,

It has a lot more support than you think. As a gentoo user, I am jealous of nixos often seeing more support than gentoo, when gentoo is older and seemingly easier to support. But nix seems to have a bigger hype nowadays.

Laser ,

Gentoo, while source-based and having an interesting approach with USE flags, does not come with NixOS’ strengths.

I’d even say that Gentoo’s packaging might be better in some aspects than that of nixpkgs, which does feature options that you can change via overrides but generally isn’t as modular as Gentoo’s system. But the mistake a lot of people – and I’d say you as well – make is that they look at the wrong parts for comparison, and don’t understand what makes NixOS so powerful. It’s not the sheer amount of packages or how they’re built, but rather the module system, the declarative nature and the option for rollbacks at the “package manager” level. Yes, these features come with increased complexity. However, I recommend not to look into what people have published in GitHub as their configurations, as these are rather general and as such more complicated than one needs for casual use.

PureTryOut ,
@PureTryOut@lemmy.kde.social avatar

Alpine Linux: uses musl and busybox by default. Extremely lightweight. Some things will not work

I use it daily, which things won’t work? Honestly it’s “just a distribution”, you’ll have the same experience with it as OP has with Arch.

matcha_addict ,

Bunch of random small things gave me issues. Sdkman (kinda like a Java version manager) and transmission on arm64 on wireguard would not work either.

PureTryOut ,
@PureTryOut@lemmy.kde.social avatar

I ran transmission and WireGuard for ages before I recently switched my server over to x86, worked fine?

Idk about Sdkman though, I don’t do Java development, but if it’s written in Java itself I fail to understand why it wouldn’t work 🤔

matcha_addict ,

My setup was really weird. I was running it under a network namespace. Maybe that’s why? The app would run like normal, but it would not successfully create any connections. I replicated the same setup on glibc and it worked.

bastion ,

For some reason I really love how you ran out of steam on this post. Take my upvote, and may you make many whole-enough-assed posts in the future.

01011 ,

Void is far from torture. It is just as easy to set up as Arch, if not more so.

matcha_addict ,

I agree, I organized the post wrong. Void should’ve been up, but it’s also a notable mention that I can’t write a lot about since I did not do too much with it.

superkret , (edited )

Slackware avoids the issue of package management completely.
You just install the entire repository up front, which resolves all dependencies.
If you need software that isn’t in the repo, you can install it any way you like from wherever you like, there’s no real package manager that gets in the way. Usually you compile it with Sbopkg, a helper script very similar to Arch’s AUR helpers. It comes with rudimentary dependency resolution in the form of queue files, which just list what needs to be installed in the correct order for any given source package, and then does it for you.
A more modern approach I follow is to use Flatpaks.

golden_zealot , (edited )
@golden_zealot@lemmy.ml avatar

People like Arch because to many it feels more truly like your system than other distributions.

It isn’t that Arch is in some way more customizable than other distros, rather it’s that if there is a package on your Arch system, its probably there because it was your choice to put it there in the first place, and so the system can feel more representative of you given it only contains the things you want or need and nothing more from the get go.

priapus ,

Those people are mostly just a meme, I rarely see people actually doing that anymore, although I’m sure they exist. If you want my personality out of it, spend more time customizing. You can look into optimizations, theming, or delve into window managers if you really want to make it your own. There’s a lot of options.

yuf ,

I have been a GNU/Linux user for about 15 years. During that time, I have alternated between Arch and Gentoo.

Gentoo is very time consuming and complex, and Arch is a pain to keep clean. However, the ability to customize the system to your preferred configuration is a big draw for both.

For a light user like me, patching and customizing to PKGBUILD is just fine. Personally, I sometimes wish for something like the USE flag in Portage.

LainTrain ,

I prefer a minimal install of Debian personally. Someone should make a rolling release apt-based/debian-based distro and I’d hop right on it. Technically Kali is one and I do daily drive that, but it’s not something I can really recommend to people as a general use distro.

Anyway if you want something more tangibly different (and difficult to install) try running OpenBSD :)

avidamoeba ,
@avidamoeba@lemmy.ca avatar

Debian testing: am I a joke to you?

LainTrain ,

Huh, is it actually rolling release and cutting edge? I thought it was just Debian + 1 or 2 versions ahead.

oo1 ,

I think you might be missing the part where memes are not real. aur is useful. arch wiki is useful.

theshatterstone54 ,

The one benefit Arch has for me (even though I no longer use it as I found I’m not too fond of rolling releases), is that the AUR with an AUR helper takes care of getting any Linux packages installed. No need to copy commands off a github repo or something like that.

Ooops ,
@Ooops@feddit.org avatar

Yes, you are missing the fact that it’s mostly not people making Archlinux their personality, but people making meme’ing about “Archlinux users” their personality. For the vast majority it’s just an OS.

Dirk ,
@Dirk@lemmy.ml avatar

Great, isn’t it? You just set up a system you like for you to use, without any bullshit.

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